Hello everybody. Earlier this week, Ming-Chi Kuo, certainly one of my favourite Apple analysts, reported that the Cupertino-based firm not solely plans to make use of essentially the most highly effective A16 chip solely for the iPhone 14 Professional and iPhone 14 Professional Max, however that it plans to take action for its subsequent iPhone launches as properly.Â
It is a crucial assertion, and I requested my sources to take just a few days to offer me the perfect and most correct reply they may. Right here’s what they need to say:
That is the more than likely state of affairs at this level, though there are nonetheless many particulars that have to be labored out earlier than it occurs.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max will characteristic the A15 Bionic chip. Extra particularly, they’ll include the A15 Bionic from the iPhone 13 Professional and iPhone 13 Professional Max, as it’s barely higher than the one within the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13.
My sources say that this doesn’t imply that Apple will brazenly announce that the brand new iPhones will include an A15 Bionic. Quite, the Cupertino-based firm might additionally name this chip “A16.” This transfer could be much like what the corporate did with the Apple Watch Sequence 7, which has an S6 processor, however Apple nonetheless known as it S7. The identical is predicted to occur with the Apple Watch Sequence 8, which can have an “S8” chip that can really be the identical S6 we already had within the Sequence 6 and Sequence 7. I’m not saying that’s a nasty factor within the smartwatch world, the place there’s no use for higher processors as a result of the corporate is principally centered on battery life and sensors, however it’s a complete completely different story once we are speaking about smartphones.
Lately, the iPhone has all the time been essentially the most highly effective smartphone within the trade, and virtually all different firms barely handle to make a chip nearly as good because the one Apple launched a yr in the past. However the public notion is not going to be that, and as a substitute, everybody will suppose they’re getting a chip from final yr in a $799 telephone, and that’s a criticism that makes excellent sense. In any case, it isn’t precisely low-cost.
In accordance with my sources, the “base” iPhone fashions will certainly use an old-generation chip to any extent further, however as I stated, that doesn’t imply Apple will name it final yr’s chip. Apple might both name the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max chip “A16 Bionic” and “A16 Professional” for the iPhone 14 Professional and iPhone 14 Professional Max chip – or name each “A16 Bionic” and declare that the “Professional” model has been “enhanced to take full benefit of all the things the Professional iPhones have to supply.”
In the meanwhile, I’m leaning in direction of the second choice, even when the primary remains to be being thought of inside the firm.
I’m fairly positive Tim Prepare dinner isn’t simply going to leap up on stage and say, “And for iPhone 14, we’re going to place in final yr’s A15 Bionic chip!” That might be a horrible state of affairs for the PR division at Apple, so the corporate will both not point out it throughout the occasion or simply name the chip A16 and provides itself time to arrange a very good reply when individuals discover, and that’s the extra believable state of affairs proper now.
As a result of present inflation, the corporate is searching for methods to scale back manufacturing prices and enhance revenue margins. The price distinction between placing in an A15 chip as a substitute of an A16 could be about $10, and even should you suppose that’s not a lot, multiply it by the 100,000,000 iPhones Apple sells yearly, and also you’ll see that’s some huge cash, so even when Apple can lower manufacturing prices by $20 or $30 per unit, that finally ends up being a ton of cash saved, and you may see why that is occurring.
To summarize: Neglect Apple calling the iPhone 14 and 14 Max’s chip “A15 Bionic,” even whether it is one, and look as a substitute at what occurred to the Apple Watch Sequence 7 and its processor. That’s all for right now.
Let me know within the feedback beneath what you concentrate on this. I hope you discovered this text useful. As all the time, have a incredible day.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]